


What My Heart Just Yearns To Say

by RushingHeadlong



Series: October Drabbles [4]
Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Modern Era, present-day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27177532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RushingHeadlong/pseuds/RushingHeadlong
Summary: Brian has never been one to care about fashion but despite his “unique” outfit choices, Anita still loves him anyway.
Relationships: Anita Dobson/Brian May
Series: October Drabbles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982713
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	What My Heart Just Yearns To Say

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song “Fair” by The Amazing Devil. Based on a conversation with @tenderbri where we both agreed that Brian would absolutely wear the BMG leggings around the house and Anita would question his fashion choices but secretly love it because she loves him. Other additional important context: [This photo of Brian wearing leggings back in 2018. ](https://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/18/Backstage_Ahoy_Bri_and_Matt_Taylor_Image2_snp1110_627x720.jpg)

It’s late afternoon, not quite dinner time but certainly getting close to it, when Anita realizes that she hasn’t seen Brian all day.

Both of their sleep schedules are utterly ruined, because time holds little meaning in the middle of a national lockdown, but Anita is slightly less of a night-owl than her husband and she had been the first to rise that morning. She left Brian sound asleep in bed and with a gentle kiss on his forehead had gotten on with her morning… and then, somehow, the day had passed her by without her realizing that Brian never came to find her whenever he finally woke up as well.

If he ate breakfast, or lunch, he didn’t see if she wanted to join him - though the lack of dishes in the sink makes her suspect that he simply hasn’t eaten anything yet that day at all. Even the house is quiet around her as she pads from room to room, giving her no clues as to where Brian could be hiding away. If she didn’t know how seriously he was taking this pandemic she would almost think that he simply up and left the house for the day, but Anita knows that isn’t possible.

She finally finds him, in all places, up in the storage room at the top of the house. Rows upon rows of garment bags filled with old Queen stage outfits and tour merchandise have been pushed aside so he can sit on the floor with his back against the wall. He’s plucking absentmindedly at one of his old acoustic guitars but it’s clear that his thoughts are a thousand miles away.

For a moment, Anita’s heart simply aches to see him like this, slowly sinking back into one of his dark moods as the initial burst of enthusiasm to make something of all this forced downtime finally fades away. Even from this distance she can see a few days worth of grey stubble growing along his jawline, and his clothes were clearly chosen at random from his closet that morning - because what’s the point of dressing nicely anymore when you can’t leave the house and there’s nowhere to go even if you could?

But then Anita actually takes in what Brian is wearing and although she tries to stifle a laugh behind one hand it slips out anyway, finally alerting Brian to her presence.

He jumps a little, but relaxes when he realizes it’s only her (as if there’s anyone else it could be). He smiles, though it doesn’t entirely chase away the melancholy in his eyes, and his hands fall still on the guitar as he asks, “What are you doing up here?”

“Looking for you,” she tells him. “What are _you_ doing up here? And…” She gives him another once-over and swallows down another laugh, and asks, “Brian, what are you wearing?”

Brian glances down at his clothes, as if he’s just now taking in his outfit for the first time, and then he looks back up at her. “Leggings and a t-shirt, I think? Why, is there something wrong with it?”

There’s nothing _wrong_ with it, not exactly, but it is unexpected even for Brian. Anita carefully weighs the various answers she could give, the jokes that wouldn’t land right when Brian is in this mood and the critiques of his wardrobe choices that are never welcome even during the best of times.

“I’ve just never seen those before, that’s all,” she says at last.

“Really?” Brian plucks at the shirt he’s wearing. “I know I’ve worn this loads of times…”

Another laugh bubbles out of Anita before she can stop it. “I’m not talking about your Freddie shirt, dear!” She’s definitely seen that shirt before, since she’s fairly certain it was originally one of the ones he wore at the end of his recent concerts - at least, before he pilfered it from his touring wardrobe and it found a permanent home here instead. “I’m talking about those leggings!”

“Oh. Right.” Brian laughs as well, though it’s a little sheepish. He stretches out his legs, wiggling his toes a little. He’s not even wearing matching socks, for christ’s sake, and how he managed _that_ when Anita knows his sock drawer is full of neatly matched pairs she’ll never understand.

“They’re new merchandise,” Brian explains while Anita silently marvels at her husband’s ability to dress himself a bit like an over-excited toddler, even at 73 years old. “Well, new-ish, by now. Do you like them?”

Anita can’t say that she has any opinion on them at all. The Brian May Guitars print is, well, _fine_ , though she really wasn’t expecting to see it on leggings - but Brian is watching her with a hopeful look on his face and, if nothing else, there’s something almost adorable about finding him sitting here, wearing his own merchandise with the leggings tucked over his heels and the t-shirt almost threadbare from how often it’s been worn.

This is her husband stripped of his public persona and rockstar flair, old and a little tired, and hiding away at the top of their house in the most comfortable clothes he could find because the world was a little too much for him to handle today. And god help her, but she still loves him as much now as she did when she watched him play to a sold-out Wembley Arena over thirty years ago.

“I love them,” she tells him and there’s no doubt that that’s the right answer to give because Brian’s face lights up and his smile becomes a little bit brighter.

“C’mere,” he says, reaching out to her, and she crosses the small space without hesitation, sinking down to the floor next to him even though her no-longer-young joints would prefer if she didn’t.

She kisses him and Brian laughs softly against her mouth and, yeah, standing up might be a bit of a problem in a moment but right now she doesn’t care one whit.

“Play me something?” she asks him.

“Alright then.” Brian picks up the guitar again as she settles in against his side. “What do you want to hear?”

“Anything you want.”

Brian nods and plays a few tentative chords, testing something out before he begins to play in earnest. It sounds familiar, and Anita is sure that she would be able to name the tune if he was playing it on his Red Special instead, but she doesn’t have to recognize it to enjoy Brian’s music and his quiet company as the last of the afternoon sun finally dips behind the treeline and evening begins to settle over the house and it’s two comfortable occupants.

**Author's Note:**

> The song I imagine Brian playing is an acoustic version of “I Want It All” because of course he’d play Anita the song that was inspired by her ♥


End file.
